Vedanta Never Defaulted On Payments, Anil Agarwal Says As Debt Concerns Loom

Last week, Vedanta Resources Ltd. received support from bondholders for its proposal to restructure four series of bonds—two due for maturity in 2024, one in 2025, and another one in 2026.

This was followed by Moody's Investors Service downgrading Vedanta Resources' corporate family rating from 'Caa2' to 'Caa3', citing recent debt restructuring as a distressed exchange.

The rating agency also downgraded the senior unsecured bonds of the company and those issued by its subsidiaries to 'Ca' from 'Caa3' on Tuesday.

Agarwal, sharing his "experience of Vedanta", said the 25-year-old company has raised more than $40 billion from overseas banks and equity markets, and has created several import substituting assets "which have excellent replacement value".

"The total debt, including that of the parent company is $14 billion and we are making a profit of $5 billion this year," he said.

The overwhelming consent received for its debt restructuring from bondholders is said to remove immediate pressure on Vedanta Resources to repay the debt obligation.

The London-based parent of Vedanta will fund the approximate $780-million upfront cash payment from a recently obtained loan of $1.25 billion. The balance of the loan proceeds will be applied, in part, towards addressing some of the company's loan repayments, Moody's said.

The mining company also raised Rs 3,400 crore through private placement of non-convertible debentures last week.